Things don't look good for leaning tree on Ocean Springs' Lover's Lane

OCEAN SPRINGS -- The future doesn't look good for the leaning tree on Lover's Lane.

It's one of several that city officials say is limiting emergency access to the homes of people who live at the end of the lane.

A narrow city street, the lane has no shoulders. It's known for overhanging trees and the ambiance they create in the neighborhood of high-end properties along Back Bay.

At a public hearing earlier this year residents made a plea with the city to save the leaning tree.

But a report at Tuesday night's Board of Aldermen meeting painted a dire picture for its future.

"...there is no root system on the east side of the tree, which undermines the stability of the tree," city building official Hilliard Fountain wrote. "Also, it was planted within a rubber tire which has undermined the trunk that has grown over the tire. There are ants and insects coming out of the tree, indicating it may be hollow."

The other oak tree with the 90-degree limb is less of a hindrance to roadway access, Fountain said in his report, and he recommended reflectors be added to the limb instead of taking that one out.

"The tree further down on Seapointe Boulevard with lower limbs across the street can be pruned to remove the lowest minor limb to lift the canopy without severely affecting the canopy," he wrote.

But the leaning tree, well .... he said he hopes to meet with neighbors in January to discuss its fate.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Things don't look good for leaning tree on Ocean Springs' Lover's Lane ."